David Moore is a Municipal
Forestry Institute 2010 Grad and
New York State Urban Forestry
Council Past President. When
he and his wife Leyla left New
York so that David could work as
Senior Tree Supervisor for the
City of Oakland, California, finding
new friends was a high priority.
A pal from Moore's SUNY-ESF
days introduced him to Blake
Shepard, a licensed marriage
and family therapist living in the
San Francisco Bay area with a
passion for creativity and music.
They became fast friends who
helped each other remain sane
through the pandemic, when
Shepard taught Moore a new
outlet: skateboarding. At Bay Area
skateparks, they bonded deeply
over their musicianship and explo-
rations into digital tech; Moore
is an electronic music composer,
recording artist, sound engineer,
and DJ, and Shepard played in
punk rock bands earlier in his
youth, still makes music, and
is deep into 3D animation and
digital fine arts. They've collab-
orated on music videos and art
projects and found they worked
exceptionally well together. >>
Moore and Shepard's installation, "Palm Reflections " at the October 14-16,
2021 Autumn Lights Festival at The Gardens at Lake Merritt in Oakland,
California enchanted about 3000 visitors nightly and received the Mayor's
Choice Award. YouTube video by David Moore. Photo by Jason Favreau
Converting Electrical Conductivity of Plants
into an Immersive Sound and Light Experience
By David Moore, Blake Shepard, and Michelle Sutton
urban-forestry.com 31
